The Geometry of Dust

[Verse 1]
The For Sale sign hammered in the lawn this morning
Is a cross that Corcoran Realty painted red.
The furnace pilot breathes a whispered warning
'Bout all the final words that went unsaid.
And the kitchen linoleum is cold and buckled
Right where your work boots scuffed it by the door.

[Chorus]
Oh, Geometry of Dust, stay in my memory
The way the sun came slanting through the blinds.
Let me keep that angle, that strange and holy glory
The one true thing the leaving leaves behind.

[Verse 2]
It's four o'clock, August, nineteen ninety-three.
I'm nine years old and flat out on the rug.
You're yelling at the Bears game on TV,
And Mom says, "Frank, don't you dare spill on my mug."
The whole damn room just smells like grit and coffee,
And for a second, I can see the air.

[Chorus]
Oh, Geometry of Dust, stay in my memory
The way the sun came slanting through the blinds.
Let me keep that angle, that strange and holy glory
The one true thing the leaving leaves behind.

[Bridge]
They'll paint these walls some unforgiving beige.
They'll rip the carpet, fix the sticking latch.
But they can't take that light on that one page
Of a life that won't ever come back.

[Outro]
Just the slant.
The angle and the glory.